Suction nozzle



C. E. STEVENS SUCTION NOZZLE Dec. 18, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June11, 1956 INVENTOR.

Dec. 18, 1962 c. E. STEVENS 3,069,186

sucTIoNNozzLE 11114411.11:iiwllmmmumm United States Patent Office3,069,186 Patented Dec. 18, 1962 3,069,186 SUCTION NOZZLE Clarence E.Stevens, Cucamonga, Calif., assiguor to The Filtex Corporation, LosAngeles, Calif., a corporation of Michigan e Filed .lune 11, 1956, Ser.No. 590,492

2 Claims. (Cl. 285 7) This invention relates to suction nozzles forsuction cleaners, and more particularly to a new nozzle constructionprovided with an improved swivelling coupling assembly and various otherfeatures to be described in detail below. t y

j The function of a suction cleaning nozzle is to effect a rapid flow ofair over a dirt-laden surface in a manner to remove the dirt andtransport it to a filtering and dirt collecting chamber. Only free dirtor dirt which can be easily `dislodged from the surface will be carriedaway in the suction air stream. If the surface being cleaned is a carpetthe dirt tends to adhere to the pile with a tenacityfrequently greaterthan the dislodging effect of the air stream.

A further important feature of the invention is a swivelling coupling atthe suction airvou-tlet formed inexpensively and providing an air-tightrelatively free swivelling connection between lthe nozzle body and anelbow adapted to be connected to a suction wand or hose. Of particularinterest'is the use of a bearing vinsert for rotatably seating the end.of the elbow and forming a retaining cavity for a resilient sealinggasket and a protective wear ring therefor. j

It is primary object of this invention to provide an improved suctionnozzle avoiding the disadvantages of prior constructions and whichprevents leakage of air at its swivelling coupling and assures a moreeffective flow o f air into its suction inlet.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a suction nozzlehaving a new and improved coupling at the outlet thereof includingsimple means for'holding the parts assembled.

Additionally it is an object of the invention to provide a new andimproved swivelling connection at the suction air outlet ofva iloornozzle featuring means eliminating air leakage while permittingrelatively free swivelling between an elbow member and a nozzle body.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a combined bearinginsert and air seal retainer for use between a nozzle body and aswivelling elbow coupling member.

'Ihese and other more specific objects will appear upon reading thefollowing specification and claims and upon 2 FIGURE 5 is a partiallongitudinal section onv the broken line 5 5 on FIGURE 4; and

FIGURE 6 is a cross-sectional View through the nozzle'- ing 12 and acentral tubular air outlet housing 13 open-l ing rearwardly and in adirection at right angles to major dimension of the suction air inlet12. As best shown in FIGURES 2, 5 and 6, the inlet rim of the suctionnozzle is provided with a continuous seat 14 having side and topI wallswhich lie at right angles to one anotherVthe side.

wall Haring outwardly relative to amedian plane normal to the nozzleinlet. Seat 14 seats a pair of brushes or bristle strips -18 and 19,each having a U-shaped metal strip y15 holding bristles 16 clamped abouta rigid core member 17. As will be observed in FIGURE 4, straightbristle strip 1S extends the full length of the forward edge of thenozzle inlet, whereas strip 19 is bent into a generally U-shapedconguration dimensioned to nest snugly against the similarly. shapedportionsl of seat` 14 extending along the rear edge and across the endsof the nozzle inlet. By reference to FIGURES 2, 4 and 6, it will benoted that the adjacent ends of brushes or bristle strips 18 and 19 areslightly spaced to provide narrow openings 20 at the opposite forwardcorners of the nozzle,

, the size of these openings being reduced somewhat under operatingconditions by the tendency of the bristles to ilare toward one anotheracross the opening. However, this Haring is insufficient to close theopening and with the nozzle connected to a source of suction a highvelocity jet of air ows inwardly through each opening 20.

As shown in FIGURES l, 4 and 5 the central portion of brush 18 isprovided with a plurality of spaced open-y ings 21 formed by cutting-away or omitting bristles at the" points indicated. These openings arepositioned centrally of the front of the nozzle and through them highvelocity air jets flow like the jets flowing through openings 20 at theforward corners of the nozzle.

It will be understood that bristle strips 18 and 19 may initially formpart of the same continuous strip, each strip being cut to appropriatelength and then separately processed for mounting against shoulder 14.This processing includes cutting or punching bristles from strip 18 toform openings 21, and placing strip 19 in a forming die to shapey itsback to conform to the seat 14 along the rear edge and the end of thenozzle body. These strips are secured in the nozzle by placing them inthe seat 114 and tightening the two clamping plates 22, 22 in placeagainst the interior walls of the nozzle by means of screws 23. Clampingplates 22 are stamped from sheet metal and shaped to tit against theinner surface of the nozzle body with their out-turned peripheral edges24 resiliently engaging the adjacent edges of the U-shaped backing 15 ofthe bristle strips. In this manner, the adjacent ends of both strips arelocked in assembled position by a common clamping plate.

Surrounding the lower perimeter of nozzle body 11 is a continuousintegral flange 25 having outwardly flaring opposite side walls a-daptedto interlock with a similarly shaped groove 26 formed in a continuousencircling strip of resilient material 2'7. Strip 27 may be extruded ormolded from rubber, plastic or like resilient material and provides afurniture guard to protect furniture from direct contact with the metalnozzle body.

Referring now to FIGURES l to 3, it will be seen that the swivellingcoupling by which the nozzle is adapted to be connected to the suctionhose or wand of a suction cleaner comprises a hollow elbow member 30having the shape illustrated in FIGURE 2. The upwardly extendingdischarge end 31 is adapted to receive telescopically the end of a wandor other coupling member for a suction hose, while the cylindricalexterior surface 32 at its lower end has 'a close rotating t with theinterior cylindrical wall of a bearing insert 33 preferably formed fromstamped sheet metal. The exterior surface of insert 33 has a press twith the inner wall of annular outlet housing 13 and includes a returnbend portion 34 Vat its inner end shaped to form an annular channel 35to seat a resilient sealing gasket 36 formed of felt, cork, rubber orthelike. Overlying gasket 36 with at least one .peripheral edgefrictionally engaging a side wall of channel 35 is a flat metal ring 37retaining the gasket in assembled position and providing a wear platefor it. In the latter connection it will be understood that the innerend 38 of the elbow 30 bears against the wear plate 37 in a manner tocompress gasket 36 slightly assuring the maintenance of an yair-tightseal between elbow 30 and the nozzle body.

Holding elbow 30 assembled to the nozzle and within the bear-ing insert33 is 'a keeper plate 40 secured to the nozzle body 11 by screws 41 asshown in FIGURE 3. The arcuate edge 42 of keeper 40 seats within anannular groove 43 in elbow 30 formed at the junction of its bearingsurface 32 with its larger diameter main body portion 31. Duringassembly bearing insert 33 is pressed into housing 13 until it abuts theintegral stop 44 projecting from the inner wall 'of the nozzle body, itsouter end then lying'flush with the seating surface for the keeper 40.Since th'e position of the annular groove in elbow 30 is vaccuratelypositioned with respect to its inner end 38 and with respect to theaxial length of the bearing insert the inner end of the elbow will bearagainst wear plate 37 and compress gasket 36 suciently to Aprevent airleakage between the elbow and the nozzle body. It will also beunderstood 'that the housing 13 of the nozzle is vformed with asemi-circular overhanging portion 46 overlying keeper plate 40 andhaving an end surface flush with the outer surface of this keeper plateto provide a continuous end bearing surface between the nozzle body andthe adjacent radial surface 47 of elbow 30.

The method of assembling the swivelling elbow coupling will be apparentfrom the foregoing. Following assembly of gasket 36 and wear ring 37within groove 35 of bearing insert 33, the latter is pressed into theair discharge housing 13 until its inner end abuts stop 44 and its outerend lies ush with the bottom of the mounting recess for keeper plate 40.The arcuate edge 42 of keeper 40 is inserted in groove 43 of the elbowand the latter is telescoped into the bearing insert after which screws41 are assembled to lock the keeper in place. As the screws aretightened its edge 42 bears against the inner side of groove 43 to holdend 38 of the elbow pressed against wear plate 37. The pressure soapplied to the wear plate, although providing assurance against airleakage around the end of the elbow does not interfere objectionablywith the free swivelling of the elbow with respect to the nozzle body.Additionally, the lower edge of the clip may, if desired, compressthe'adjacent edge of the bumper 14 to aid in retaining it in place. Whenassembled as described, the suction nozzle is in readiness forconnection to a suction cleaner in the usual manner.

In operation, the nozzle is placed on the surface to be cleaned, theweight of the nozzle being borne by the bristles of strips 18 and 19,and primarily by those on the interior sides of the strips owing to theangle of are and the trim of their free ends. Due to the outwardinclination of bristle mounting seat 14, the bristle tufts inclineoutwardly and the inner bristles contact the surface being cleaned. Theforward and backward movement of the nozzle across the floor will, ofcourse, detiect the bristles in a manner tending to bring a greater partof the bristle ends into contact with the surface at one side of thenozzle. This will not be true of the ends of the bristles along theother side of the nozzle with the result that these bristles will flexoutwardly and oifer a minimum resistance to the ow of air directlyacross the oor surface and beneath the ends of those bristles into thenozzle inlet. The high velocity air flow into the nozzle takes place notonly across the surface of the carpet but also downwardly and throughthe carpet pile as the pile is progressively opened by the passages ofthe bristle ends thereover. This air entrains dirt from the pile andcarries it upwardly into the nozzle and to the cleaner. Reversal of thedirection of nozzle movement across the floor reverses the direction offlexing of the bristles and causes the greater inow of air to take placebeneath the bristles on the opposite side of the nozzle. Owing to thelarge number of bristles and their compact arrangement the air flowthrough the bristles is restricted and the major part of the air owsbeneath their ends and through the inlet openings 20, 21.

The p-rovision of openings 20, 20 between the ends of the bristle stripsat the forward corners of the nozzle provides high velocity air jetsuseful in cleaning dirt from corners. The action of these -inlets isincreased by positioning one end of the nozzle in the corner to becleaned and pressing downwardly on the bristles to minimize the iniiowof air therebeneath. In consequence, an increased ow of air takes placethrough openings 20 thereby entraining dirt `lodged in the corner beingcleaned. VOpenings 21 along the central portion of forward strip 13 maybe employed similarly to entrain dirt from adjacent baseboards andfurniture.

Should either bristle strip become damaged V'or worn excessively it maybe quickly replaced by loosening retainer screws 23, removing clampingplates 22 and replacing the damaged strip or strips with a new one.Thereafter the clamping plates 22' and screws 23 are replaced.

Another feature of the present nozzle design is the action of inturnedlip 34 of the bearing insert 33 in providing a stream-lined ilow of'dirt-ladened air past the junction of the nozzle body with swivellingelbow 30. Additionally, it will be apparent that 4lip 34 serves as adirt guard preventing dirt from collecting in gasket 36 and interferingwith its air sealing action.

While the particular suction nozzle herein `shown and disclosed indetail is fully capable of attaining the objects and providing theadvantages hereinbefore stated, it is to be understood that it is merelyillustrative of the presently preferred embodiments of the invention andthat no limitations are intended to the details of construction ordesign herein shown other than as dened in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. An air-tight swivelling -coupling for the outlet of a suctioncleaning nozzle, comprising a main suction nozzle body having a tubularoutlet opening, a sheet metal bearing sleeve having an inturned end,said sleeve having a press fit within said nozzle outlet, resilientgasket means seated within the inturned end of said sleeve, and acombined gasket retainer and wear ring overlying said gasket andfrictionally engaging a wall of said sleeve to hold said gasket in.place therein, said sleeve being adapted to seat rotatably and snuglytherein the cylindrical end of a rigid coupling member having a portionbearing against said wear ring.

2. An air-tight swivelling coupling as defined in claim 1 including anelbow provided with a cylindrical end forming a close running rotary twith said bearing sleeve 5 with its end resting against the wear ringfor said gasket, and means holding said elbow vassembled within saidsleeve with the end of the elbow bearing against said wear ring andcooperating therewith in providing an air-tight seal while leaving saidelbow relatively free for rotation with respect to said sleeve.

References Cited in the lile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 6Zacharias Mar. 23, 1939 Lofgren Dec. 5, 1939 Forsberg May 13, 1941 LangOct. 21, 1941 Lofgren May 4, 1943 Doyle Nov. 17, 1953 Caddell Aug. 14,1956 FOREIGN PATENTS Belgium Nov. 21, 1952 Germany May 29, 1935 FranceApr. 13, 1931

